What Telephone System Do You Need?

It is virtually impossible to image an enterprise without a
robust telephone system. An efficient telephone system is
required not only to reach out to the thousands of the
customers, but also to communicate between the office
members as a part of a meeting or conference, or to
facilitate the routine communication between the mangers
and the work force. In short, the more robust the telephone
system in a business, the better and efficient would be the
work coordination and hence the overall performance of its
employees. This article discusses a few telephone systems
that are usually associated with businesses.

Telephone systems in enterprises can be classified into
three types – KSU less phones, preferably for small
businesses, Key systems for mid sized enterprises, and the
more elaborate Private Branch Exchange (PBX) for larger
corporations.

KSU less phone systems are meant for businesses that do not
need more than ten extensions. If there is another plus
with such small business phone systems, then it is its
installation and maintenance cost, which are relatively
very low, and yes, the monthly expense in terms of phone
tariffs. Also, since KSU less phone systems are temporary
connections, moving it to a new location, such as in the
case of an office shift, is not a big deal. Simply unplug
the telephone system and plug it back in the new office. If
yours is a small business or a start up, installing a KSU
less telephone system would be the ideal choice. You can
upgrade it to a more complex telephone system as the
enterprise grows.

As mentioned, Key systems and Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
are required for larger businesses. PBX is essential if the
employee strength is more than 40 and frequent
communication with more than member at a time –
conferencing – and enhanced call management is a necessity.
By call management, it implies the different communication
modes such as call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail and
fax, and the telephone system's much needed compatibility
with other electronic devices such as the printers, PC, and
the web. PBX definitely costs more than the KSU less
telephone systems, but, then the phone companies offer
different communication packages depending upon the client
requirements, and its prices vary with the features that
each package includes. If your business wants a feature
filled service, you may have to shell out more money.

Key system, on the other hand, is tailor made for medium
sized enterprises whose employee strength falls between 10
and 40. The PBX and Key systems are usually installed and
maintained by the service provider himself unlike the KSU
less ones.

Finally, before choosing a business telephone system, take
into consideration, the current size of the company, its
future expansion plans, and also the different phone
systems available in the market and their costs. Compare
the capabilities and features of the telephone systems in
the market, its price, and quality of customer support,
before making the final call. It is also advisable to seek
professional advice in that regard. To know more about
telephone systems in vogue, search the World Wide Web.

----------------------------------------------------
Lee Smith writes about Telephone PBX Systems
http://www.networklondon.co.uk/communications/index.html

Finding Your Uniqueness in Today's Job Market

If you have been reading articles or listening to news
reports about the job market, it becomes obvious that the
number of people currently seeking jobs outnumbers the jobs
that are now available.

If you happen to be one of those job seekers, you realize
that you are competing against the odds. The question is,
"How can you make yourself stand out when there are so many
other candidates looking at the same job?" The answer is to
"focus" – focus on what makes you unique.

Let's assume that you have an outstanding resume and that
you make it to the top of the stack of resumes of people to
be called for an interview. You, and maybe nine or ten
other equally qualified people for the position, that is.

Because companies have so many candidates to choose from,
they are interviewing more people so that they can select
the "best." When you are lucky enough to be invited to an
interview, it is essential that you be ready to sell
yourself, to let the interviewers know what makes you
unique, what added value you can bring to the position-in
other words, why you are the best person for the job.

By doing some basic preparation, you can determine your
uniqueness and where you should focus your attention. The
first step in this process is to identify your five
strengths. These strengths are the areas where you do very
well.

This may take some thought on your part. What are your
strengths? Think about previous performance appraisals –
what was said or written about you? What would your
co-workers or ex-bosses say about you?

• List the skills and experiences you have that would be
required in the type of job you are seeking. For instance,
a technical job would focus on programs, languages, and
platforms, etc.

• Give some thought to those skills in which you excel,
those that are referred to as the "soft skills." These
skills can be viewed as transferable– you can take them
with you to any job you hold. Examples of these skills are
your communication and people skills, or your
time-management and project-management skills, or your
ability to build strong relationships, or your ability to
influence others.

• Lastly, think of the personal traits that make you
unique. Maybe you never miss deadlines, or perhaps you are
willing to do above and beyond what is asked, or perhaps
you have a great attitude. (Don't dismiss these
traits--many people have been fired for negative personal
traits rather than for lack of knowledge).

When you have identified your five strengths, make a list
of those strengths and some examples of when those
strengths have helped you achieve results on the job. It
will be essential that you can not only identify your
strengths, but that you also have examples and stories of
times when you demonstrated those strengths in the past.

The next step is to look at the job postings and ads. In
fact, look at several job postings that would be of
interest to you. Your goal is to find key words and
phrases. For this exercise, don't limit yourself to
geographical location. Look at jobs of interest located
anywhere.

When you have several postings, read each word and sentence
carefully, taking notes as you do. What are they looking
for? What words appear consistently in almost every posting?

Now, take a piece of paper and divide it in half. On one
side of the paper write, "What they are looking for," and
on the other side, "What I have to offer." Each time you
apply for a position, it will be invaluable for you to know
how you stand against what they are looking for. This
exercise will help you see how close a match you are and
where you should focus.

Your next step is to add your uniqueness to the "What I
have to offer" list. Some postings will list additional
skills required, which make it easier for you to see what
is important to them. An example would be, "Must have
excellent communications skills, strong organizational
skills, and be a willing team player." If these words
appear in most of your posting examples, then make sure
that these are a part of your focus. Can you work these
words and your five strengths into the interview to
demonstrate your fit – and then some? Some postings will be
more vague about what it takes to get the job done and will
require reading between the lines to determine what other
skills are necessary.

In summary, by narrowing your uniqueness to these five
basic points, you can guide the conversation to include
this information. By focusing on five strengths, you will
be prepared with examples of times when you have used these
strengths.

Whenever possible, give examples to show how you have "been
there and done that," and can do it again. It will be
necessary to demonstrate that you have what it takes, and
then some, to be unique in this market.

When you walk out of that interview room, your interviewers
may not remember all five of your points; but if they
remember even two of the points that make you unique, you
will be ahead of the game!

----------------------------------------------------
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Coach, is a
celebrated author, trainer, and mentor. Carole can give you
interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy of her
FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" report by visiting
Carole on the web at The Interview Coach
http://www.interviewcoach.com

Leadership Through Goal Setting - vs - Brute Force management

Setting goals as the way to create priorities is what
leaders do to maintain direction and focus. Unfortunately,
many managers take a tremendous amount of potential
leverage out of their organizations by not prioritizing.
Many do it by using the Brute Force style of management.

How to define Brute Force management? It's the "just keep
working harder, working longer, and working smarter and
everything will be OK."

It's the "just do what I tell you to do when I tell you to
do it."

I had a Brute Force boss whose standard answer to "What's
the most important thing?" was "Everything's the most
important thing." We were in a crisis mode and there was a
lot to get done, but what that "Everything is important"
direction led to was a lot of counterproductive behavior
-.do what you're told to do, and then ask "What's next?"
After a year of that no leverage management style he was
fired - but not until some very good people had left the
organization.

Managers that take the "everything is Number 1" approach
are often rewarded for being tough, no nonsense, aggressive
problem solvers. The fact that they created many of the
problems they then solved seems to go unnoticed. Instead of
leadership, they use the brute force approach to getting
things done. That often works in a crisis situation, but
when everything becomes a crisis, those managers lose their
effectiveness and their people become cynical about how
they are treated. Brute force managers rarely have goals
they share with people, and even more rarely do they have
their people participate in any meaningful way in setting
goals and priorities. To many of them, sharing information
and open communication are threats to their control. Many
of them are quite happy with a compliance level workforce -
the "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it" people. There
is no leverage in the Brute Force management style.

How do effective leaders create priorities that maximize
their own effectiveness and the effectiveness of their
organization?

They start with a clear understanding of what the three to
five most important things are, both personally and
professionally. This is tough - there are always many more
issues vying for attention than there are resources
available to address them. The leader makes the tough
decisions - the Brute Force manager doesn't.

Then the leader enlists people in the areas of importance
to help arrive at ways to succeed in meeting the most
important requirements.

Then the leader creates and communicates and negotiates
goals that support the most important three to five issues,
or challenges, or opportunities.

The goals are used to create supporting goals, expectations
and understandings of importance in the universe of people
that can contribute to meeting the goal.

Then leaders act - and expect action from their people.

Leaders protect their own time, and the time of their
people, so that maximum focus can be kept on the critical
few, and not frittered away on the unimportant many.

And then leaders evaluate, change if change is necessary,
and continue to use the process as the basis for action
throughout their organization.

And they insist that this process be kept as simple as
possible - minimum bureaucracy here. Don't wait for an
enterprise wide software system to capture all the data and
sign ups and goal statements. More good goal setting
systems have drowned of their own administrative weight
than for any other reason. Leaders fight that. Leaders know
the critical intersection in goal setting and prioritizing
is at the person to person level - not at the form
completion and submission point.

And the resulting action they get is so different from the
"Tell me what to do and I'll do it" people. Lots of
leverage in a shared goal environment - on both a personal
and work level.

Leaders know most people want to help, want to contribute,
want to be involved in a worthy enterprise, want to be
recognized for their contribution. Leaders also know most
people work best and most effectively where they have
structure and an understanding of what needs to be done.
Once they have that, great things start to happen! The
people doing the work no longer have to say "Just tell me
what to do and I'll do it" - they know the priorities and
what is most important. They can use the freedom that
knowledge provides to keep their eyes on the few big balls
- and not be distracted by all the little balls that will
always bounce around and take up all the time people will
let them take up.

Leaders also know there are times when brute force may be
the only appropriate tactic - a public safety health
product recall, a natural disaster, a systems failure, a
fire - all call for everybody pitching in to get things
done - whatever that means. But leaders know the brute
force tactic is the exception to the rule, and is only used
when absolutely necessary. And their people know it - and
rather than take it as just another in a long line of fire
drills, they pitch in and know their efforts will be part
of a worthy enterprise's efforts to succeed. The result is
maximum leverage when needed.

If you work or live in an "Everything is important"
situation, be careful of burning out. If you can take what
leaders do and apply it to your work and your personal
situation two things will happen - you'll have more time
for the really important things, and your personal and
professional success will increase - I guarantee it.

And on those brute force days, or weeks, keep the leader's
model of goals to priorities firmly in your sights - and
get back to it as soon as possible. Start today.

----------------------------------------------------
Andy Cox founded Cox Consulting Group in 1995 after
extensive experience in leadership positions in Fortune 500
corporations. His focus is on helping clients select,
develop, retain and enhance the performance of leaders and
emerging leaders Click on http://www.coxconsultgroup.com
for more information on the selection of the right people
for the right jobs.

Escaping the Boss From Hell: Three Steps to a Better Career

Nearly everyone has suffered this at least once in his
career-the boss who makes each workday a living terror.
You can find the Boss from Hell in any industry or
occupation. Even the best companies slip up from time to
time, allowing bullies to rise through the employment food
chain to management.

If a national survey were taken to find out the reasons
people change jobs, by far the number one reason for job
dissatisfaction would be bad management. As a career
coach, surprisingly, I've found that increased earning
potential usually ranks far below the desire to leave a
mean, unreasonable boss. If you wake up each day dreading
the next eight to ten hours, your problem might be your
supervisor.

You're working for the Boss From Hell if:

* He (or she) bullies you and your coworkers with threats
and temper tantrums.

* His unpredictable moods keeps the office environment
constantly tense and second-guessing his next move.

* He sets unrealistic and unattainable goals.

* You live in constant fear of being fired.

Fear and intimidation never motivate employees to excel.
Tyrannical supervisors create an atmosphere of distrust and
isolation. If you work for someone like this, your
confidence is probably not what it used to be. In fact,
you are probably second-guessing your decisions on the job
constantly. As long as you work for management that rules
by fear, you'll never reach your career and earning
potential.

There are three steps to escape the Boss From Hell and move
on to a happier, healthier work place.

1. Gain perspective to think rationally about your career
options.

Fear in the workplace tends to leave people thinking they
have no better options than to stick it out. Such thinking
is a result of loss of confidence and the inability to see
beyond the present distress. One way to gain perspective
and see new options is to spend some time browsing job
postings. The right direction might be within another
department or division of your current employer, but away
from your current boss. Or it might be somewhere else
altogether. If you keep an open mind, you'll see that
there are many options for you outside of your current job.

One way to get the most out of this career reconnaissance
is to search for job postings based on skills rather than
job titles. Do a job-skills self-analysis to identify the
tasks and activities you enjoy performing on your job. Use
those skills as your search terms at online job boards.
You may be surprised to see that you qualify for positions
you had not thought of before.

2. Take inventory of your career accomplishments and
contributions.

In order to get moving toward a new position you'll need to
regain your confidence. Think about, and then write down,
situations of where you:

* Came up with an idea for saving time

* Helped your team reach a production goal

* Identified cost savings opportunities

* Solved a customer problem leading to increased customer
satisfaction

As you think back on your accomplishments, you'll begin to
realize the value you have added to your company.
Remember, other employers have similar problems to solve.
They are looking for candidates who have experience in
handling difficult situations. The more specific the
examples of your accomplishments are, the more marketable
you will be in the job market.

3. Update your resume.

Once you have your accomplishments listed, use them to
update your resume. Think of your resume as your initial
marketing tool; it should announce to potential employers
your ability to help them reach their bottom-line corporate
goals. For example, your resume should appeal to potential
employers' desire to increase efficiency, cut costs and
improve productivity. When employers see what you can do
for them, they're sure to be impressed.

Your resume should also have a clear career focus.
Updating your resume doesn't mean simply adding your
current work history to your old resume format. Without a
careful resume strategy, your resume will begin to resemble
an old house with too many tacked on additions. Make sure
your resume presents a cohesive, well-thought out,
professional front.

Additionally, if your career has taken several interesting
turns, you'll want to adjust your resume toward your
current focus. Take the time to refocus your resume on
your current job search. Highlight the items from your
career that are relevant, and minimize the things that are
no longer relevant.

Once you have invested the time to gain perspective on your
career options, take inventory of your accomplishments, and
update your resume, you'll be mentally and emotionally
ready to seek other employment opportunities, either within
or outside your current company. You don't have to remain
in an unhappy job. You do have choices. Take the steps to
help yourself-you'll be glad you did!

----------------------------------------------------
Deborah Walker, Certified Career Management Coach is
uniquely qualified to help job seekers find better
employment. Her background as former executive recruiter
and veteran career coach provides an insider's perspective
on resume writing, job-search strategy and interview
coaching. Learn more resume and job-search tips available
at:
http://www.AlphaAdvantage.com

Did You Get Lazy In Marketing? (If You Want More Clients, Do What You USED To Do)

It's a phenomenon that happens to most people in business
for themselves after a few years. When solo-entrepreneurs
first get started in marketing their business, they have
gusto, they have energy, and many take a no-excuses
approach to getting clients. They're WILLING to do what it
takes, and they do it often (most of them).

But after a few years, they begin to rest on their laurels,
they get lazy, and after a while, they stop doing what they
used to do to get clients. Some stop networking; some stop
doing free intro classes, either in person or over the
phone; some no longer do as much speaking as they used to.
They've slowed down their marketing, and then they wonder
what's happened to their pipeline: it's empty.

Oh, and I hear a whole bunch of excuses as to why they're
no longer doing these things, too. There's always a
YEAH-BUT… "I don't FEEL like doing that anymore," or "I've
already done that, it won't work again," or even "I'm
tired, I don't want to work that hard." Some even begin to
wonder if they should stay self-employed, ready to give up.

As a result of the excuses, the well continues to dry up
and they find themselves digging the well when they're
thirsty (Not fun: it creates sleepless nights and financial
troubles.) Then, the fear sets in and they scramble for NEW
things to do. Ever done that?

It seems they want to reinvent the wheel. They're looking
for new ways of doing things and this creates a sometimes
frenetic, frantic approach to getting clients. I believe
this ties into the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" we talked
about last week, always looking for something new to do,
something exciting, while leaving behind the proven stuff.

However, what I've learned over the years is, doing
something new doesn't always create results as quickly. The
systems aren't as easy to put in place and there's always a
learning curve for new stuff. What clients are surprised to
hear is that, instead of creating BRAND new strategies,
sometimes, we begin by going back to doing the
tried-and-true, proven things that worked very well for us
in the past. We go back to the basics: Marketing Pie 101.

Why reinvent the wheel when you can go back and do the
simple things that are proven to work?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

My thoughts on this: You either have EXCUSES or you have
RESULTS.

So, my questions for you are:

What have you been UNWILLING to do recently to get clients
that USED to work for you?

Have you stopped doing something that you did regularly in
the beginning?

Where have you gotten lazy?

What used to work for you in the early days?

Are you doing this now?

Are you WILLING to do this now?

If now's the time for you to ramp up your client load, then
stop everything and take a look at your Marketing Pie.
Which slices of the pie are you implementing regularly? Are
you not being consistent with your marketing?

It's time to go back to the basics. And, it's time to
recommit. The funny thing is, when you recommit and you
start doing these things again, they WORK. And what happens
is, you start getting clients, more mo'ney starts pouring
in, and you begin to LIKE doing these things again.
Marketing becomes FUN again. Your whole demeanor changes.
And, you instantly become more Client Attractive as a
result. THEN, once the foundation is in, you can start
adding in all the new stuff. Try it. It always works for me
and my clients.

----------------------------------------------------
Now, if you're stuck with what to do to fill your practice
in the FIRST place, then follow a step-by-step system that
feels easy and authentic to you. The Client Attraction Home
Study System™ avoids the "Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" and
instead gives you the most important things to do to set up
simple, solid systems, so that you consistently fill your
pipeline and continually get new clients. It's all
step-by-step, not a big mishmash of things. So, you do step
one of the system, and when you're done with that, you move
on to step two, and so on. All the tools, scripts,
templates, and examples are handed to you on a silver
platter. Easy. You can get it at
http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com/ .

Identify Harmful Traditions that Keep You from Accomplishing 20 Times More

Accomplishing 20 times as much requires you to stop doing
things that waste time and resources. Tradition often
binds us into keeping harmful habits. Check to see if you
or your organization are following any of these practices.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

A motorist asks a farmer for a glass of water. The farmer
obliges, using a hand pump to draw water from a well. The
pump handle turns close to a board, and the farmer curses
as he scrapes his knuckles against it.

Motorist: Why not move that board? It serves no purpose.

Farmer: It's been there since my father's time. If it was
good enough for him, it is good enough for me.

Aping Human Beings

Imagine a cage containing five apes. In the cage, hang a
banana on a string over some stairs. Before long, as the
story goes, an ape will decide to go up the stairs to grab
the banana. As soon as that ape touches the stairs, spray
all the apes with cold water. After awhile, another ape
will approach the stairs with the same result: All the apes
are sprayed with cold water. Do this repeatedly and then
just watch when another ape tries to climb the stairs. The
other apes will try to prevent the ape's attempt, even
though no cold water is sprayed on them.

Next remove one ape from the cage and replace that ape with
a new one. The new ape sees the banana and wants to climb
the stairs. To its horror, all of the other apes attack.
After another thwarted attempt, the new ape knows that if
it tries to climb the stairs, it will be assaulted. Now
remove another of the original five apes and replace it
with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is
attacked. The previous newcomer enthusiastically takes part
in the punishment although it has no idea why it was not
permitted to climb the stairs.

After replacing the third, fourth, and fifth original apes,
all the apes that had been sprayed with cold water are gone
from the cage. Nevertheless, no ape ever again approaches
the stairs.

Why not? "Because that the way it's always been around
here." Sound familiar?

The Pecking-Order Tradition: After You, Alphonse …

In most organizations, decisions have to follow a certain
pathway. Someone who needs a decision begins the process by
asking his or her boss. The boss asks her or his boss. This
process continues until someone has the authority and wants
to decide. When the decision is finally made, communicating
the answer has to follow the same path in reverse down
through the organizational pathway. Nothing has changed
about this process since the days of feudal kings and their
lords. But is this the fastest way to make progress? Hardly.

The Hazing Tradition: Get Down!

Organizations don't like to allow newcomers to become part
of the group until the new people are put through some
ridiculous initiation that had humbled the organization's
veterans. Having humiliating experiences in common makes
everyone feel more comfortable with one another. The apes
in the cage would recognize the process.

The Slow Walking Tradition: Take the Tour

Few people like it when pressure is put on them. To avoid
that pressure, many people will pretend to be at full
effectiveness … while working well below their
self-perceived potential. When the big bosses arrive for an
inspection, those who host the visitors will take the big
brass on a long, slow tour designed to demonstrate that
everyone is fully and effectively engaged. Every stop will
have been rehearsed for weeks in advance, and everything
will be perfect.

This tradition has been around for a long time. During a
famine, Catherine the Great took a tour of Russia to see
how the peasants were doing. A prosperous-appearing village
was erected along the banks of the river just before her
arrival. That night, the village was disassembled and
transported down river to be erected again for viewing by
the Czarina the next day in a new location.

The Time-Is-Money Tradition: How Much Is This Conversation
Going to Cost Me?

Many organizations run themselves to be cost efficient.
With stop watches and clipboards in hand, cost analysts
ensure that activities not earning an adequate profit are
ruthlessly slashed. In this way, profits are increased.
Or are they? Sometimes the effects of the cost cutting
actually harm profits. Here's an example: There's no
profit in taking back unsatisfactory products. Stores will
put as few people as possible working on this task. There
may be 30 customers in the store and 19 of them will be in
line to return items while a single clerk works as slowly
as possible. But wait in too many of these long lines and
customers will buy somewhere else … where the return lines
aren't so long. A lost customer can cost a company
thousands in profits. Sometimes that short-term cutting
focus is the wrong way to look at things.

The Isolation Tradition: Solitary Confinement for Learning
Development

Most organizations are reluctant to credit innovations and
ideas that have prospered in other organizations. Engineers
often like to refer skeptically to the sloppy work that
everyone else does. Ironically, this approach is more often
known as the "Not Invented Here" Syndrome that almost
always means falling behind the competition because
everything "Not Invented Here" is shunned.

The Inertia Tradition: Millwork Is My Trade

In 1848, gold was found at Sutter's Mill in northern
California. There were literally large nuggets sitting in
the river beds that could be picked up by the handful. Five
minutes' labor would pay for a week's expenses. Sutter lost
his business as a result. He kept trying to earn money with
his sawmill while workers quit to carry off fortunes in
gold. Similarly, many organizations focus on their past
activities rather than grasping the great potential of the
present.

List Your Harmful Traditions

It's not enough to laugh at others who make large mistakes.
You need to identify which traditions hold back you and
your organization. If you jot those down now, you'll have
taken a helpful first step in eliminating those harmful
traditions.

Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

----------------------------------------------------
Donald Mitchell is chairman of Mitchell and Company, a
strategy and financial consulting firm in Weston, MA. He is
coauthor of six books including The 2,000 Percent Squared
Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, and The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook. Free advice on accomplishing 20 times
more is available to you by registering at
=====>

http://www.2000percentsolution.com .